Fire pits have been around for many years and are designed to contain a fire and prevent it from spreading. In general, fire pits provide warmth and ambience and are most often used outdoors, such as in outdoor patio areas. Fire pits are available in both built-in configurations, e.g., physically mounted or secured in or to the ground, and free-standing configurations, e.g., a portable fire pit constructed from a ceramic material, such as stone or brick, metal or other material, that can be placed by the user in a desired location. Typically, fire pits are fueled by natural gas, propane, or bioethanol, but wood burning fire pits are also available. Gas-fueled fire pits typically have an enclosure defining an internal compartment of sufficient dimensions to house a fuel tank. The fuel tank has a valve assembly allowing the user to dispense fuel from the tank. Gas-fueled fire pits also typically have a burner assembly with a burner and an ignitor, hose or piping extending from the burner assembly to the fuel tank with a connector at the distal end configured to matingly engage the valve assembly of the fuel tank, and a control assembly operatively and fluidly connected to the hose or piping between the fuel tank and the burner assembly to allow the user to adjust the amount of fuel being delivered from the fuel tank to the burner assembly and, thus, the size and intensity of the fire in the fire pit. Such control assemblies typically also enable the user to control (i.e., activate) the ignitor of the burner assembly and typically include at least one valve connected to the hose or piping between the fuel tank and the burner assembly that allow the user to adjust the amount of fuel being delivered from the fuel tank to the burner assembly.
One problem associated with conventional fire pits is that in an effort to fully conceal the fuel tank, the valve assembly on the fuel tank is rendered inaccessible or accessible by the user with great effort. The present invention provides a fire pit apparatus with an ergonomically designed and posited control and access panel that enables the user to easily access both the valve assembly of the fuel tank as well as the control assembly of the burner.